Brookside Elementary School wants to get students out of the classroom and into the schoolyard to study science, art and literature in natural settings through Schoolyard Enhanced Learning.

Brookside Principal Fritz Monroe and several teachers explained the school's newest initiative to school board members during their Monday, Oct. 27 meeting.

Monroe said Schoolyard Enhanced Learning (SYEL) is Brookside's elementary renewal proposal for 21st-century learning. He recited the initiative's vision or "dream": "That all students will learn to the best of their ability while learning to love and care for the earth, while being instilled with the mystery, magic and majesty of nature; and while building a village to accept us all," he said.

"We want to take students outside not only to fulfill our curriculum goals, but to enjoy the mystery and magic of nature," he said.

District principals began the elementary renewal process in the summer of 2006 as they examined skills students would need to be successful in the 21st century. The principals worked with staff members to come up with ways to renew school curriculum based on best practices and current educational research.

Monroe said Brookside is a natural fit for SYEL because of the large pond on school grounds, the school's already extensive monarch butterfly raise-and-release program and the continued enhancement of the campus, which includes a butterfly garden and walking trail.

The school's formal proposal packet for the initiative included a research paper by Boston City Schools, which adopted SYEL and suggested two books parents can review: Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv and Schoolyard Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool, K-8, by Herbert W. Broda.

Monroe said teachers will work toward taking classes outside once a week, weather permitting.

"Technology will be a second major change," he said. "We will have more digital cameras for students, who will create more PowerPoints, slideshows and writings with photos included."

The proposal describes a "Listening and Looking Walk" on school grounds, which "encourages students to use their senses to collect science observations from the natural setting" to enable them to create nonfiction writing, scientific data, graphs and diagrams, along with poetry, prose or short stories.

The school's initiative includes plans to involve the community in a "Three Sisters Project," which would include a community-maintained vegetable garden and the expansion of summer activities at the school, such as summer camps conducted by the Worthington Parks and Recreation Department. The expansion of the walking trail also is planned, turning it into a "Par Course" that can be used by all ages.

Monroe said a pilot summer camp was held at Brookside last summer and included "pond activities, insect collections and study, library usage and board-game play."

The project doesn't come without extra expenses though, in the amount of $28,520 for the first phase, which is expected to begin with the 2009-10 school year.

"After the first year, a sustainable budget can be absorbed by the building budget," Monroe said.

Purchases included in the first phase are GPS devices, measuring tools, binoculars, magnifying glasses, observational journals, digital cameras, bio-Web cams, video conferencing systems and benches, along with amounts allotted for professional development and field trips.

Additional funds would be needed for the second phase of the project, which would include purchasing flat-screen displays and equipment for the Par Course, pushing the total funds needed to $51,211.

Adopting Schoolyard Enhanced Learning will continue student and community appreciation of nature on the school grounds, Monroe said.

"The grounds of Brookside have already become like a community park," Monroe said.

"We want to take students outside not only to fulfill our curriculum goals, but to enjoy the mystery and magic of nature."

--Fritz Monroe